THE RAMBLINGS OF A STRUGGLING ARTIST ON LIFE WITH TWO TERRIERS, A PONY WITH ISSUES AND OTHER WILDLIFE AND BIRDS THAT CROSS OUR PATH

20 September 2013

GRASSLAND

So many pictures of Dartmoor highlight the Tors and rocks while most of it comprises huge tracts of grassland and bog. Much of the grass around here is deciduous and is already starting to brown, ending up the palest beige and drifting like snow once released from its roots. At present, with high winds, it undulates and shimmers, rustling above the relative silence now the Swallows seem to have taken their leave. It is a canine paradise.

Sorry - this one is looking a little lavatorial...he's just poised to jump

This sheep, stripped to the bone in a few days, is the reality of the wild I suppose. No tourists will have seen it so far off the track or they might not come back. Yesterday evening, I found the remains of a Kestrel on the drive, brought up by someone else's dog no doubt. Heartbreaking. I hope it wasn't the young one whose parents we saw the training it other night. The rain has stopped today and it's been a joy to hang out washing again. Over the weekend we intend erecting a scaffolding tower and attempting to sort out our ailing guttering. Hope you have more interesting plans! So until next time, here are Snippet and Jack. Snippet appears to be smiling and Jack really needs to grow into his skin.

Very rarely and, to be honest, if I see someone in the distance, I'll walk a different way. The dogs are rather over-friendly and some people aren't keen on being licked! I love the solitude so winter is my favourite walking time, when there are fewer tourists.

Love all your photos, Em, especially the one with the 3 sheep, and of course Snippet & Jack. My friend's other half has gone to his Mother's 95th B/D this week in Wales. They are about 100 miles from where you reside, as well as John Gray's home .. maybe someday I will win some Money to be able to travel there. x

Oh HOW your photos make me yearn for the moor. It really is a physical pain . . . like someone pulling at my heartstrings.

In photo no. 11 (and a later one) is it part of a stone row, or perhaps just a reeve which has got exposed?

Lovely photos of the dogs, as always, having SO much fun (do they know how lucky they are?) I hope that Jack is being more obedient now, ref. the sheep.

I hope you get your guttering fixed. And you don't have any run-off from Next Door! I am hoping we can relax when it rains this winter, safe in the knowledge that all the leaky bits have been sorted . . .

Yes, they are reaves. We have a particularly dense area of mainly bronze age and some medieval settlements here. If you saw that Bronze Age program that Neil Oliver did, there was a whole section filmed at and below Kestor.

The work starts on the gutters tomorrow.....I hope. The weather forecast is not TOO bad but you know what it's like up here; better to just look at the sky.

Gorgeous moorland scenes, it just looks so idyllic up there on your dog walking rambles :-) I like the description of the undulating and shimmering grassland and I can almost hear it rustling myself when I look at all your lovely pics :-)

Lovely to see Snippet and Jack enjoying their run across the moor. And how did you get those 3 sheep to pose so perfectly for you? I have given in and joined facebook! Well actually Sketching William has, haven't got to grips with it yet, will I ever?!!

I thought joining facebook would be a good idea but I never use it and just get irritated with the constant emails saying I've got 'notifications'. If you do get to grips with it, perhaps you could enlighten me?

Your photos are always wonderful. I scroll through them several times trying to choose a favorite. I think this time its the landscape patterned in bands of sunshine and shadow--or maybe the track leading across the moor.The space looks vast--I wonder if I could retrace my steps on a walk--or would I be hopelessly lost?

Isn't it nice to have two dogs that interact? My brother in law says if you have two dogs you have less than if you have only one that is really devoted just to you, but I wouldn't want to miss the interactions among the members of our pack. And it seems so much more fun for them! Greetings from Arizona where summer is still hanging on, temperature wise, but the fresh green of the monsoon season is giving way to autumn colors here, too

So true. Snippet is no longer completely obsessed with my being here and, when I take OB to school, I leave them in their cages and they seem perfectly happy with there being the two of them. It's more expensive though!

You live in a most beautiful place. And Snippet and Jack are so lucky to be able to run free. The one photo of snippet running towards you looks like my Hamish when he has long hair. They could be brothers except for the fact Scotties don't really have legs, not like Snippets... so maybe cousins ?

Good luck with the gutters I think ? I am waiting for the MRI reports or trying to forget I am waiting for the results. I won't hear back till Monday or Tuesday...

Dartmoor was previously covered in Oak woodland. The 'Dart' bit is the Celtic word for oak, hence the Dart-moor. Prehistoric settlers started the clearance and it continued from there. It must have been absolutely amazing.

The ponies often get injured thanks to people feeding them next to the road, so that they associate hanging around roads with food. It doesn't happen here as much as we're a dead end and get no through traffic.

Wonderful photos of the moor and the dogs loving the open spaces. It seems like a perfect place to walk with the dogs; I'd be fascinated by its changes with the seasons, too (not to mention thinking about its ancient history). That is sad news about the Kestrel, they are such terrific birds.

It just looks absolutely wonderful where you walk and your photos are just beautiful too. I agree with your reply to CTs comment, I usually avoid meeting other walkers because Bracken too, is a over-excitable!

I see you say that the long rows are reaves, so I won't ask ;) You are indeed very lucky to live in such a wonderful place, it is a dog's paradise. Cleaning gutters, yikes when they did the cottage it was all living vegetation lining them, and all the houses are but a foot apart, so they had to go over the roof to the back gutter, hope the cleaning goes well.